Customer Reviews

Pastoral Care of Depression: Helping Clients Heal Their Relationship With God (Haworth Series in Chaplaincy)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Clearly written but with a cant to the conservative Christian faith community. This limits its usefulness. That's too bad because over-all there is much positive about it. Cast in a more "interfaith language," this could have been a much more useful book for those in hospital or other chaplaincy as well as a broader variety of pastorates.

The summary of therapy modalities is very strong, as is the material on images of God. I do have issues. The modality which has consistently had the strongest results especially in treatment of depression, is cognitive behavior therapy. Study after study has demonstrated this. I would have preferred a focus on this modality. I think the focus on psychodynamic modes is a mistake. A quibble is the extensive reference to Aaron Beck's version where CBT is the subject. Historically, it was Albert Ellis' work which was primary. Beck benefited from his university association, but Ellis is the "father". His work was originally called Rational Emotive Therapy and now is known as REBT; B for Behavior. Ellis was the pioneer and while Beck has made useful contributions, his origins are secondary. I find the concept of Irrational and Rational beliefs to be more useful than "automatic negative thoughts." Still, either is better than other options.

The very strongest portions of this book are those in which Moriarty provides both discussion and exercises to help the reader discover the image(s) of God in his/her faith. I wish these were published in workbook form so that I could use them in groups. There is much here that could be paired with Sally McFague's book, "Models of God." This is important material which could also be used in Spiritual Direction.

One final comment. I did wonder who the intended audience could be. There was almost too much information on the pathology of depression and the various methodologies of therapy. I do not believe that most pastors have nearly the skills or insight to actually treat depression and the attempt to do so would likely prolong the depression or create other dysfunction. I think that anyone who is clinically depressed should be treated by a competent psychotherapist, preferably one who can work with the client's own spirituality. The book seems to encourage pastors to do treatment themselves. Seeing a parishioner for 2-3 sessions is appropriate, but if the severity of the depression reaches clinical proportions, the pastor should refer.

A qualified pastoral psychotherapist will bring the learning of both psychology and that of spirituality to bear on the problem. The vetting process to become a Fellow of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors leads to a better and more rigorous therapeutic, spiritual, faith education and training than that of other professional therapy communities. AAPC now has members from several faith communities including several Protestant denominations, Roman Catholic, Buddhists, Jewish, Muslim, Wiccan and other non-Christian faiths as well.

This book is primarily concerned with how a person's image of God develops and then using that information to examine how current theories of depression interact with this God image. It is the examination of this relationship between depression and a person's image of God that makes this book unique.

Often people are raised to believe in a God who is loving and accepting but their experiences point to a God who rejects them. Or at least that is how they interpret their experiences. This difference between an all loving God in concept and a very different God in the internalized concept of God is a major part of this book. To resolve depression it is essential to change the God image based on subjective, emotional experiences. People who struggle with depression often have a critical and rejecting God image as a result of critical and rejecting parents.

After discussing the above material the author provides an overview of both the psychodynamic theory of depression, and the cognitive theory. He also examines the relationship between depression, guilt, and religious belief. Throughout the book you will find case examples, exercises, suggested forms, questionnaires, and similar tools. There are several exercises on discovering and understanding your God image. That's followed by an excellent section of how the God image develops.

Chapter 5 covers the God image assessment, and the importance of a good assessment in order to understand the client's image of God. To assist with this he includes a 40 question questionnaire and a 28 question true and false questionnaire as well as instructions on how to score them.

Chapters 6 and 7 cover techniques specific to the psychodynamic psychotherapy and cognitive schools of thought. With all this preliminary information in hand Chapter 8 delves into how to develop a workable treatment plan. The author follows sound, well proven therapeutic techniques couched in the religious belief system of Christian theology. Pastoral Care of Depression: Helping Clients Heal Their Relationship with God is highly recommend to all Christian counselors.